Do your parents own your body?

While you are a minor, your parents or guardians have the legal responsibility for you and your body. As you learn to understand and accept responsibility, you will begin to be entrusted with the responsibility for your body.

Do I have a right to do what I want with my body?

Being able to make our own decisions about our health, body and sexual life is a basic human right. Whoever you are, wherever you live, you have the right to make these choices without fear, violence or discrimination.

Can my parents tell me what to do with my body?

Yes, they can, but there are limits to what they can do. Firstly, parents can’t use violence to discipline you if you are under the age of 2 or a teenager nor can they use excessive force that would endanger your life, your limbs, your health or risk disfiguring you. They are not allowed to use any objects to beat you.

What does a healthy parent/child relationship look like?

Healthy adults with healthy parent/child relationships do not see their children as possessions or objects. There is a sense of fierce connection that can be seen as an emotion similar to “ownership” in a healthy bond. This sense is similar to how one feel’s about one’s spouse or lover, “You’re mine”.

What is an unhealthy relationship between a parent and a child?

In unhealthy bonds, the parental love is based on the parents’ needs, the parent may in fact feel the child is a possession, and either the child rebels completely to save their own self, or if the rebellion is not successful, may suffer from ongoing psychological problems in adulthood.

What is a healthy bond between parents and children?

Throughout childhood and adolescence, in healthy bonds, the child asserts their own personality, the parent attempts to respectfully shape and guide the child, and there are periods of conflict between the two.